Present
by writer.in.wonderland23
Summary: Klaus decides to give Caroline a birthday present and Caroline realizes something along the way.


Finally! It was my birthday. My mom was on an all day shift after some hunter blew up the Mystic Grill. So I guess I was destined to spend my birthday alone…again. I was in my kitchen making chocolate chip pancakes when there was a persistent and impatient knock at the door. I was very confused. About a week ago Tyler had given up the ruse that he and his wolf slut Haley were only "friends."

I walked to my door in my camisole and flannel shorts. Through the glass on my door I saw Klaus in his trademark Henley T shirt and a smirk plastered on his beautiful…wait, no, evil face. I took a deep breath and made sure that a scowl was on my face when I opened the door.

"Happy birthday, love." His smooth as silk, accented voice came flowing over my ears. The sunglasses perched on his head and the BMW outside add to his appeal so I am interested at the moment but am still suspicious and manage to keep a scowl on my face.

"What do you want, Klaus?" I somehow manage to keep my voice dead and monotone.

"I want to give you your birthday present, of course." He looks kind of offended that I even had to ask.

"I do not want anything that comes from you!" I said with hate and spite. I then slammed the door right in his face.

I turn back to go back to the kitchen and make my breakfast when Klaus's voice rings through the door.

"I will not leave until you allow me to give you your present, Caroline, I am prepared to be very patient." He sing songed.

I growled at his sheer determination and turned back to making my breakfast. Making the bacon and eggs that were meant to go with the chocolate chip pancakes I sat down and turned on the radio, eating to my favourite Katy Perry song. I checked after to breakfast to see if he was still there and sure enough, there he was with a smirk, sitting on my porch. I just huffed and went upstairs to take a shower and came back down fully dressed to see him still sitting on my porch so I decided to go and tell him off once and for all.

"Leave Klaus!" I practically snarled at him when I opened up my door.

"Not unless you are planning on coming with me." He grinned at me with complete joy, very much enjoying this game."I promise you will very much enjoy your present." He said completely serious is if as that was what was effecting my decision whether to stay or go.

Going against my better judgement I grabbed my sunglasses. "Fine. This better be good." I growled at him.

"Oh I promise, darling, we will have a fabulous time."

I rudely pushed past him and got to his car. I hopped over the door to the convertible and slid into the seat. When he just stood there I pushed my sunglasses down the bridge of my nose and gave him a look that said "_Are you coming or not_?" With that look he ran down to his car and hopped over the door, copying my style of entry.

He turned on the car and sped through the Mystic Falls and got out to the highway faster than I could have run with my vampire speed. The wind was blowing through my hair as my favourite Kings of Leon song started to play on the radio. I turned it up and started bobbing my head and rocking out in the passenger's seat.

Klaus looked at me with reverence and amusement, as if I were the most beautiful thing he had ever seen but also the funniest. The song ended and uncomfortable silence settled over the car moving down the highway. I started to get more and more anxious the more distance Klaus put between myself and Mystic Falls.

"Klaus, where are we going?" I asked him sweetly, hoping he would fall for my puppy dog eyes and the batting of the eyelashes. Amusement colouring his…aw screw it, he won't hear me, beautiful features.

"You'll just have to wait and see, won't you?" He smirked.

We drove for about another 30 minutes and then Klaus pulled his convertible onto a shoulder of the highway. He then pulled a piece of cloth out of his back pocket.

"Please put this on." He said politely.

I was instantly suspicious of his intentions. For some unknown reason though I fastened the piece of cloth securely over my eyes. I was a bit upset and he noticed.

"Aww don't pout, love. It isn't attractive on a woman like you." I glared at him through my blindfold and he just chuckled and started up the car again.

We drove for what felt like hours due to my blindfolded state until we finally pulled up on what sounded like a gravel driveway.

"I will come to collect you, but for the moment I need you to stay put so I can go and get some things ready." I heard his voice near my ear and I just nodded.

He flicked the convertible top down and rolled up the windows so all the sounds would be muffled to me. I felt the weight on his side of the car shift as he slid out open his door and he slammed to door and suddenly I felt the back of the car moving, so I knew he was rifling through the trunk for whatever he was doing for this present for me he had planned. The trunk shut and Klaus walked off his feet hitting gravel until they hit cement and then faded until I could not hear it any more.

I waited patiently until he came to retrieve me. I heard his footsteps retreating back across the gravel and I got excited…wait, excited for a birthday present that Klaus is giving me? Yep, my heart decided before my brain. Klaus opened the passenger side of the car and placed my hand in his.

"Come with me, love." He guides me by the hand from gravel to concrete and into some sort of structure that smells of hay and horse manure. A shrill whining erupts from a corner and I would have died of fright if I wasn't already dead.

"It's okay love, he's just happy to see me." He soothed, seeing that the whining had scared me. I heard breathing and a weird clip clop sound. He stopped me suddenly and turned my by my shoulder about 90 degrees to my left.

"Ready for your present, love?" He asked in an excited boyish tone.

"Yes please." I nodded eagerly, despite the present being from Klaus. He pulled the blind off in one swift move and in front of me stood a beautiful copper coloured horse. It had a white blaze down it's forehead and white markings up it's legs. I turned back towards Klaus with a questioning gaze.

"Did you buy her for me?" I ask in a childish voice, not quite believing that the horse was all mine yet.

"She is all yours, my sweet Caroline." He drawls.

I turn back to the horse and begin petting her nose and neck. It is then that I notice that she is all tacked up. I turn back to question Klaus and see him nowhere. Then I hear a clip clop down the hall of the barn and see Klaus leading a HUGE black horse up the hall. It also has a saddle and bridle on. The horse matched Klaus in every way. It moved with predatory grace, and even had an arrogant air to it. Klaus came to stand in front of me and I looked at him questioningly. He just handed me boots and a helmet.

"Grab your horse, we're going for a ride." He smiles.

I had so much excitement as I led her to a place where I could mount. Klaus led his horse beside mine. I had taken some horse lessons but I was still kinda shaky on the basics. I moved to mount my horse and then Klaus stopped me.

"Always mount from the right, love." He then turned to his horse. "Just copy me." He then made sure I was watching and he put one foot in the stirrup, grabbed some reins and a lot of mane and gracefully bounded atop his horse.

I copied his movements, put my foot in the stirrup, grabbed the reins and some mane, but lost my balance a bit on the way up. I landed clumsily and a little heavily in the saddle. My horse then skittered to the side really quickly.

Klaus's hand shot out, fast as lightening and grabbed the side of the horse's bridle, effectively stopping her from going anywhere. Klaus's face was etched in deep concern. "Are you all right, love?"

I nodded and he slowly let go of the bridle. Once he made sure I was settled and sure of the basics he nodded at me to lead my way out of the barn. I clucked to my horse and gently dug the heels of my borrowed boots into her sides. I was a bit startled as she moved forward but quickly regained my composure. I heard the clip clop of Klaus's horse as it started to follow mine. He eventually moved his horse beside mine and we rode in comfortable silence.

The sun was shining on the field we were riding through and then Klaus kicked his horse up to a canter and disappeared up around a bend in the path. I was a bit scared but kicked my horse up to a canter. Klaus's horse was quite a bit larger so it took a bit to catch up but what I saw when I got there was incredible.

Klaus stood in a field of wild flowers beside his horse that was tied up to a tree stump. He pulled something from a pack in his saddle and handed me a blood bag. "B negative right?" He asked with a genuine smile.

I was famished. I hadn't had my glass of blood with breakfast so I took the packet from his hands and tore it open with my teeth. I took greedy gulps and finished the bag in a couple of sips. I pulled back with a sigh and looked at Klaus. He hadn't even touched his blood bag. He just stared at me as if I were the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I started to get uncomfortable as he didn't seem to be breaking his stare any time soon.

"Thanks." I muttered. "I was thirsty."

His smirk then returned. "I could tell." He says with amusement.

We sat for awhile and just drank in silence. I told Klaus about my human life and he told me about his. The conversation then settled into uncomfortable silence. I then turned to look at Klaus's horse that was grazing contentedly after being able to roam freely without his bridle.

"When did you get him?" I ask, gesturing to the huge black horse.

"I purchased him back in 2004 after a foolish man tried to sell him at a slaughter house auction. I looked at the black beauty, wondering how anyone could not want something so magnificent." Then I notice Klaus's eyes light up. "You wanna see what I taught him?" He asks.

I just nod slightly confused.

Klaus calls the horse over with a whistle and slips the bridle over the head of the horse. Klaus then swings atop the horse and moves him to the centre of the field. I see him dig one of his heels into the massive horse and the horse bows. Klaus just lowers his head and after about 30 seconds of complete stillness the horse seems to start to dance in place. Klaus then kicks him into action and the horse, still dancing, starts to spin in a circle. Klaus then steers him across the field and into a weird distorted kind of canter. They do that for a couple of minutes and then Klaus moves the horse back to the original position and bows the horse again. He looks up at me for my approval with a boyish smile. The horse then makes its way over to me with a lazy walk at the urging of Klaus.

"What do you think?" He asks.

"That was beautiful!" I exclaim. "I didn't even know it was possible for a horse to dance." I say, baffled.

"Well before Thunder here was sold to a slaughter auction, he used to be a champion dressage horse."

"Dressage?" I ask, confused.

"It is a series of complicated movements that make up a pattern like what you saw now. It is only for the most disciplined of horses and riders." He says, puffing out his chest a little.

"Can she do that?" I ask, looking at my horse.

"Not yet." He chuckles. "But if you work as hard as Thunder and I here." He says, leaning down from his position on the saddle to pat the horse on the neck affectionately. That one show of love from master to animal showed a whole different side to the badass hybrid that Niklaus portrayed himself as. I instead saw a man who still held onto his humanity for dear life to not show the monster that lurked just below the surface. Then the smirk returned to his face covering that one show of love.

"Do you fancy a race love?"

"A race?" I ask, curious. I mount my horse to follow his aimless pacing around the meadow.

"Yes, a race, love."

"I'll bet I can win." I challenged him with an evil glint in my eye.

He smiles wickedly and trots his horse over to mine. He leans in close to my face over both of our horses until our lips are almost touching. "How much are you willing to put on that, sweetheart?"

I put on my evil face and lean in even closer. "How much do you want?" I huskily reply.

He seems genuinely shocked for a moment before he quickly regains his mask of composure. "All of it." He growls. His breath on my face sends shivers down my spine.

"Then race me for it." I smirk.

Our lips are a hairsbreadth away from touching and I move a little closer to test him. I smile my evil seductress smile and move my horse forward so that I am moving away from him. I have the figurative devil and angel on my shoulders right now.

One voice is screaming, _"Get away from the evil monster that has tried to kill one of your best friends." _And another voice is saying, _"You are having fun. When does fun just happen to pop into your crazy schedule of the supernatural? Enjoy it."_

I listen to the devil. Fuck it! I am gonna enjoy myself. I pull my horse in between two trees that provides a straight shot to the stream on the other side of the meadow.

"How about to the stream?" I ask.

Klaus just nods and readies his horse. The big stallion can feel the tension and starts to jig. My horse remains calm but alert.

"Ready…set…go!" I yell.

Klaus kicks his horse into action a nanosecond before mine. The stallion takes off at the slightest touch with the powerful bunching of the hind quarter muscles. My horse only has a slight advantage with her long legs which I urge her to use. She is running to the best of her abilities and is neck and neck with Klaus's stallion. I pull a slight bit ahead and Klaus decides to play dirty. Pulling out a whip I didn't even know he had I hear the sound of it hit the horse's side.

"Yah!" He yells at the horse. I hear the stallion try to increase his pace but he is racing hard. "Yah!" Klaus yells again.

My horse stumbles on a rock and she has to slow down as not to trip and fall. That was all the black stallion needed to pull a nose ahead and win the race. Klaus circles his horse back around stares at me lustfully.

"Miss Forbes." He sing songs. I decide to see how far I can push my luck.

"Well Mr. Mikaelson," I start in a fake southern drawl, "I would love to give you your kiss but I feel you have cheated."

"I did no such thing!" He exclaimed. "We never discussed the terms of how to win, only that I won." Then he looks me up and down, "And with the prize that you offered up, you could be assured that I was going to win by any measures necessary."

"Well, if you plan to collect your winnings you will have to find them first." I smirk. Still on my horse, I gallop away back towards the barn and turn up a path that leads to a forest. I hear hooves behind me and know I don't have much time. I dismount and leave Penny, as I know called her because of her copper color, tied to a tree to throw Klaus off. I flash with my vampire speed into the bushes.

I watch Klaus find Penny and his expression go from worried to excited. He was enjoying the chase as much as I was enjoying running. "Come out, come out wherever you are Caroline. You know I won that race fair and square."

I had climbed a tree to watch my prey. My musical laughter filtered through the forest as I flashed from tree to tree trying to confuse Klaus. His head whipped from side to side trying to pinpoint the source of laughter that was taunting him. His hybrid eyes flash and he scents the air. I flash into a eucalyptus tree to hide my scent. Klaus growls and just dismounts his horse, leaving his horse standing in the clearing. I just watch him, enjoying this game. His eyes search high and low for me.

"Love, I know you are here. Your scent is all over these trees. I just want what I was promised." He grins wickedly. "Unless you planned on giving me more."

I involuntarily snorted and rolled my eyes. His eyes snap to a tree near mine. I go dead silent, not even daring to breathe. He sniffs and gives a huff, knowing that is not where I am. A woodland creature snaps a twig behind him and he spins around thinking that he has caught me. In that second I pounce like a cat, and I'm about to land on his back when he spins around and has me pinned to a tree before I can even process being captured.

"Damn it." I huff.

Klaus gives a real laugh. It is not maniacal or arrogant, it is one given in reaction to true amusement. He gives a huge smile. The kind that makes you show all of your teeth and makes your cheek muscles hurt. It suited him really well. For all of his brooding and arrogant smirks, this smile made him look his best. It may have been the way the sun was shining on his face or the way his smile made him look adorable but I had fought the urge all day and when did Caroline Forbes hold back?

So I just leaned in and kissed him softly.

It was magical. It is that once in a lifetime kiss that made your toes curl and is always remembered as your favourite kiss.

Klaus is the one to pull back from the chaste kiss first. He is breathing hard and wearing a stunned expression that tells me I have thrown the original hybrid off guard. He then smiles and then breaks into hysterical laughter. I frown a little at this and if my arms weren't pinned I would have hit him. He then sees my angry expression and tries to stifle his laughter. He eventually recovers from his laughing attack and faces me with a genuine smile.

"Caroline, all this time I have been telling you that I fancy you, and showing you how much you really mean to me, and then you kiss me after a game of hide and go seek? He just gives a huff and releases my arms.

"It wasn't just the game Klaus." He turns and cocks his head to the right at the slightest angle to indicate his confusion. "I liked you from the start. It was all the times that you have saved me and my friends, it shows of humanity, and that is why I genuinely like you, also that's what made me kiss you." I admit, blushing profusely.

He just gives an arrogant smirk. He strides over and pins me up against the tree again, his expression changing to one of frustration. "Do you have any idea how many nights I had pined over you Caroline, how many nights I wished you were mine?" On the last word his eyes flash yellow and he growls. His fangs flash out and I think he is gonna bite me but he pulls them back in. He pushes away from me and growls in frustration.

"What's wrong?" I ask, frustrated that his nature interrupted our moment.

"I want to bite you, and mark you all over, Caroline. I want you to be mine and let everyone know that you are mine. I know that my chances are slim to nothing, though. That, my dear Caroline, is what is the matter." His dejected face is what pulls at my hearts strings and I make my way over to him to dispel any rumours of that he is not wanted by kissing him with everything I have.

He pushes me away forcefully. "Be sure of what you want ,Caroline." He warns with complete seriousness.

"I am completely sure of what I want Sir Niklaus." I mock him on the last words desperate to see him smile again.

He growls deep inside his throat, and looks at me with lustful eyes and a smile to match. He makes his way over to me slowly with predatory grace and a look that makes my skin tingle. He takes my hands in one hand and gingerly pins them above my head. He then just looks at me with admiration and lust. His gaze makes me uncomfortable so I look away from his eyes and blush scarlet. He chuckles gruffly. He makes me look at him by taking my chin in his hand.

"Just let me look at you, love. I am still not entirely convinced that I am not dreaming yet." He gently caresses my face and my face and neck go scarlet. He just laughs again, his face and eyes showing raw, tender, unmasked emotion. He kisses me tenderly and I push it a bit farther, pressing my tongue against the seam of his lips. He greedily accepts.

I let him dominate the kiss and just let him have the moment. He takes full advantage and ravishes my mouth with his tongue. He lets go of my hands to cup my face and my hands immediately go to tangle my hands in his hair. He pulls back and gasps an unneeded breath. He just stares at me breathing heavily. Gently he swipes my bangs out of my eyes and the vulnerability and love in his gaze makes me stop short. I stop breathing, afraid that look will vanish if I move. He just keeps staring, his eyes scouring my face for something.

Then he speaks.

"I hope you know, Caroline, that after this, there will be no going back to the pup."

I shake my head at the ferocity in his gaze.

"Good."

His gaze then softens and he goes back to stroking my face. I lean my cheek into the hand cupping one side of my face as his other hand goes to the other side of my face to cup the other cheek and he kisses me tenderly. I flip us around so that his back is against the tree and I start to kiss on his neck. He tilts his head back and gives me better access to his neck. I feel the veins start to descend down my cheeks and hear the hiss that escapes my lips at the sheer, utter want, of feeling the need to bite him. Klaus tilts his head back even further and presses his pulse point on my lips.

"Have at it, sweetheart." He whispers huskily.

The veins extend down my face and my veins rip through my gums. I hesitate, my breath causing goose bumps on his skin. He nods and gives a low moan. I drag my fangs across his neck and test his pliant flesh. I then sink my fangs into his skin gently. I suck his blood in greedy gulps. Once the first drop touch my tongue it is so hard to stop. The taste of his blood is like nothing before. It has a forest taste along with something dark and dangerous. I feel his blood start to flow slower and pull away with difficulty. I pull off with a gasp and Klaus just gently strokes my cheek, one finger gently tracing the veins under my eyes.I blush and force away my vampire face and lick my lips to wipe away any more blood. Klaus is still against the tree and still stoking my cheek.

"I will never leave you, Caroline. If you stay with me, you can have a thousand more of the best birthdays that anyone can give you. He speaks quietly, almost a whisper.

I suddenly got the feeling that I would never spend another one of my thousand years alone. Ever.

**A/N:**** If you liked this story please please please leave a review. Reviews make my day. Oh and one question do you guys want me to make this a two shot or do you think I should leave it as a one shot?**


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